Three months have passed since Mirage's death, no pony is prepared for what comes next
Three months have passed since Mirage's death, Celestia rules Equestria and Luna lives a normal life in Zephyr, trying to keep the Elements of Harmony together, all the while helping Vinyl take care of Rain Whisper and herself, Vinyl had fallen into a state of depression after Mirage's death, trying to find hope that he would someday trot up the road into her house, and they could become a family again. A certain mare has other plans though, taking advantage of someone dear to every ponies hearts.
Vinyl lie in bed motionless next to Aero, he had failed to make her "happy" like he promised. The Fire pony had been asleep for at least four hours, she rolled out of bed, trotted into the bathroom and stared at the mirror with disgust, she wasn't herself anymore, she had no brightness or humor, no spunk or joy, no nothing. Just a pony who could only feel pain and sadness.
Vinyl saw Mirage in the corner of the mirror, she turned around with a smile on her face, only finding an empty bathroom, the smile quickly faded, emotional daggers stabbed her in the heart, causing her to slump down and cry.
"No use in crying anymore" Aero said, walking up behind her, trying to help her up,
Vinyl spun around and slapped him, "Get out, and don't you ever even look at me when I'm drunk again" she snapped,
Aero turned around and walked slowly to the door, "He's never coming back Vinyl, move on" he said, coldly,
"Piss off Aero!" Vinyl yelled, pointing for him to leave,
As soon as Vinyl heard the front door slam she fell onto her bed, bawling over her lover.
"I should- I should have helped!" she whimpered, letting tears flow freely, how was she supposed to just move on?
Did mares who lost friends or family in the war just forget about the ponies they lost?
Any pony in their right mind would know to cherish the souls of the fallen, who dedicated themselves to fight for what they thought was the greater good. Who fought for the very survival of Equestria.
"Don't Forget" Mirage's voice said, inside of Vinyl's head, Don't forget who you really are"
"What do you mean?" Vinyl asked out loud,
I'm sorry, I must go, he is watching"
"Who?" Vinyl asked,
There was only silence, she received no answer from the voice,
She tried to cry, but no tears would come, she had run dry, her body refused to let her use any more water for something as useless as tears.
----------
"I told you never to speak to her"
"Too bad"
----------
Twilight and Trixie approached Vinyl's house, hearing her cries from their own house,
Twilight knocked, "Vinyl? You okay in there?"
"Go away!" Vinyl yelled from her bedroom,
"We want to help sweetie" Trixie said,
"I don't need any help!" Vinyl screamed, swinging the door opened, glaring daggers at the two mares,
"Yes, you really do" Twilight said,
"Why?" Vinyl snarled,
"Because you've changed ever since Mirage..." Twilight stopped, unable to say the words,
"What? since he suffocated in your teacher's deathtrap?!" Vinyl shrieked, tears rolling down her cheeks,
Twilight was taken aback by the comment, Vinyl had never been so aggressive,
"Don't speak to her like that!" Trixie said, stepping in front of Twilight,
Vinyl smiled, "Oh, and what are you going to do 'great and powerful' Trixie?" she snarled,
"Well, I'll... I'll do this!" Trixie said, entrapping Vinyl in a magic bubble,
Vinyls eyes turned golden, she had remembered what happened to Mirage.
Trixie also remembered, "Oh sh-"
Trixie was cut off by Vinyl breaking out of the bubble with no trouble, pinning her to the ground
Vinyl roared into Trixie's face, scaring her to the point where she could have pissed herself,
"Don't you ever touch me with your magic again you stupid bitch!" Vinyl roared,
"I- I'm sorry" Trixie whimpered,
Twilight pushed Vinyl off of Trixie, guarding her marefriend,
"Stop this right now!" Twilight screeched, "Your scaring her!"
Vinyl just walked into her house, slamming the door behind her, leaving the two mares outside,
Vinyl looked around, trying to find something to break, she finally decided on a vase, she picked it up with her magic and smashed it against a wall, sending a tremor through the house. Next, she found a table, on it sat her morning coffee, which Aero had made, she picked it up and flipped it over, sending coffee flying into the wall in front of her, the now cold liquid silently dripping onto the window sill.
You feel better? Vinyl asked herself in thought,
"Hell No" She said aloud
Vinyl laid on her back on her soft bed, putting on her headphones to try to get her mind off of Mirage, she scrolled through the songs on her My-Pod, Finding one she liked.
My Little Chemical Romance blasted into her eardrums, causing her to move her head to the beat, rocking it back and forth as the music resumed, her eyes began to droop slightly, her vision blurred and she finally closed her eyes.
"He Is Watching" a voice whispered,
Vinyl sat up, looking around for the voice, Finding nothing
She laid back down, closing her eyes again,
"You can't save him anymore" a different voice whispered, "He is nothing more than my puppet"
She opened her eyes again, not sitting up
"Who are you?" she asked, shifting her eyes in different directions,
No answer.
Vinyl closed her eyes, the whispers immediately returning,
Mirage lie on a table motionless, his eyes closed, a dim light was the only kind of light in the room, the table that he lay on was the only thing that could be seen, other than a blue pair of eyes that peered out of the corner of the room, watching his lifeless body,
Large clamps were attached to the steel restraints on Mirage's hooves, copper wires trailed from the clamps to a large power box that was humming, a large switch came from the left side of the box, it was facing downwards, indicating the power was off.
"Time to wake up" a voice said,
Soft taps echoed throughout the room, the unknown pony was trotting slowly towards the power switch.
The switch rising let out a loud thump as it collided with the top of the machine, sending an electrical charge through the copper wires, which began to pump through Mirage's body, sending his body into spasms, his head slammed against the back of the table he was on, his eyes flashed open and began to glow, pops and sizzles of electricity were the only audible sounds in the room, a bright purple glow illuminated from his body, lighting up the dark room, showing the owner of the blue eyes,
Pinkie Pie.
A loud snap echoed through the room, Mirage's body began to discharge and strike electricity into various places in the room, marking the stone walls with a black spider web shaped burns.
The power was suddenly shut off, Mirage’s eyes closed, his body stopped shaking and discharging and the glow faded, hiding the pink mare again.
“Wake Up” Pinkie said,
Mirage’s eye fluttered opened, his body moved in place, he began to gasp for air, like he hadn’t breathed in ages, he began to cough and scream, not knowing anything of his surroundings,
“Vinyl!” He yelped in a raspy voice,
“Mirage!” Pinkie shrieked, bouncing over to him,
“Pinkie Pie! Where am I?” he asked in a panicked voice,
“You’re alive!” she gasped, hugging her old friend,
“What are you doing here?” Mirage asked, “Are you dead?”
Pinkie Pie giggled, “No silly I’m alive, you’re alive too!”
“I am?” he asked, “Why am I strapped down?”
“Duh, I’m helping the Princess!” She said, smiling,
“Princess Luna! We have to find her!” Mirage said,
“Not Princess Luna, Princess Celestia!” Pinkie Pie said, giggling,
Mirage’s pupils shrunk, he remembered what Celestia had done to him, was Pinkie Pie working with her? Or was she just being Pinkie Pie?
“Pinkie, can you let me down?” Mirage asked,
“Yeah, I will in a second” she said, “Just let me do something”
Pinkie Pie lowered a machine onto Mirage’s head, lights flashed from the top of it, it was like a helmet, but much bigger and had electronics in it,
“What is this?” Mirage asked, feeling it being strapped onto him,
“Just something to help ease the pain” Pinkie Pie said, flipping switches on the big helmet,
“What pain?” Mirage asked,
Pinkie Pie didn’t answer, she only kept talking about the machine,
“Now, this might pinch just a little” Pinkie said, flipping a final switch,
The pain was something he had never felt before, not when he suffocated, not when he fought Soarin, not when he was bitten by Blackblood, it was like somepony hit him in the head with a sledgehammer at first, then it escalated into him being ran over by a carriage, the pain was so intense he almost passed out, but fought through it, worried that he might not wake up again, the machine felt like it was tearing something out of his very soul, he clenched his teeth, drawing blood from his bottom lip as his fangs dug into them, then it all stopped, the machine was lifted off of his head and he fell to the floor, needles had come out of the sides of the machine and dug into his head, the holes were now trickling blood down his head and getting caught in his mane.
Pinkie Pie was far more interested in what was coming out of the machine than Mirage. Black liquid poured from the needles onto the floor, after about five minutes the needles went into a slow drip and the black liquid that had splashed all over the floor began to merge together, eventually forming into a pony, it looked like an exact copy of Mirage, only pure black, no cutie mark, black wings and Red, snake like eyes,
“Pinkie what did you do?” Mirage asked,
“I created something amazing” She said, looking at the monstrosity that stood before her,
“Where am I?” The pony asked, he had a voice like Mirage’s as well, just deeper and slightly demonic, like he was trying to speak underwater,
“You’re home” The same pony said, like he was speaking to himself, this time, the new voice sounded even creepier,
“Who are you?” Mirage asked,
The black pony looked towards Mirage, “We are you, only stronger. We are Black Mirage”
Mirage stood up, he wanted to get out of the room he was in, he wanted to see Vinyl and Rain Whisper,
Mirage darted to the left, leaping for a door, he swung it opened, being greeted by more darkness, he took a chance and ran through, escaping the other two ponies,
He had one thing to help, his vision started to slowly adjust to the darkness, at this point, he was glad to be a vampony, looking around, he saw a large staircase and he ran there quickly.
“Mirage” Pinkie cooed from the door far behind him, “I have to put you back in the ground now”
Mirage didn’t listen, he sprinted up the staircase and broke the door down, going into the first floor of a building that resembled Sugarcube Corner, he ran to the front door and tried to open it,
It was locked from the outside.
Mirage slammed his body up against the door, wincing from the pain, it was iron, he had no chance of breaking it, he looked around desperately, for any way out, he saw more stairs, so he took them, he went up about fifty stairs before he got to a new room, windows were all around him, he smiled, remembering his wings, he darted towards the window, not even taking time to buck the window out, he crashed through it, into the crisp, clean air. He was happy until he tried to open his wings, they were stitched to his body, before burial ceremonies they would stitch the wings to the body of the pony to keep them looking nice. Mirage dive bombed at least five stories, slamming into the ground hard, knocking him out for a few seconds, in amazement that he wasn’t dead he jumped up and started to run again, the pain slowly making its way into his system, his legs began to seize up and lock in place, causing him to fall over.
He laid there in the middle of town square; ponies began to rush to his aid, knowing nothing of the situation at hand.
Mirage looked around as he was being carried away by somepony,
The last thing he saw was the lavender coat of the pony carrying him.
Mirage felt sick as he sat up, he looked around, a rocking chair sat in the corner of the room, a steaming cup of soup sat on the nightstand next to him, there was commotion from the outside of the door.
"Is he in there?" a voice asked, it was Vinyl's
"yes, but he has very severe wounds" a new voice said, "he's not awake"
Mirage looked over his body, he didn't see any blood, just a few scratches,
"Vinyl!" He screamed, his vocal cords hurt when he spoke,
The door smashed opened, splintered pieces of wood exploded in every direction, showering the room with sharp dagger like pieces of wood.
Vinyl stood in the doorway, huffing and puffing, her eyes flashing golden,
"Mirage!" she yelped, smashing him into the bed as she jumped onto him, almost killing him with a bear hug,
Mirage hugged back, tears streaming from his eyes,
"I missed you" he said, not letting go,
"I missed you too" she said,
10 other ponies walked through the door, Applejack, Twilight, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Rarity, Aero, Night Flash, Princess Luna, and two ponies he had never seen before, An earth pony with light blue fur and a dark brown mane. The other earth pony had a lavender coat similar to Twilight's but was a bit darker and a dark purple mane that seemed to move on its own.
"Who are you?" Mirage asked, gesturing to the two,
"Oh" The blue one said, "I'm Thalassa!" She chirped, bouncing over to him,
"I'm Mir-"
"We know who you are Mirage" The lavender one said, cutting Mirage off,
"How's that?" he asked,
"We've been looking for you for the past four hundred and twenty one years"
"Wait... What?" Mirage asked,
"You don't remember us?" she asked,
"No, should I?" he asked,
The earth pony's eyes shifted to the left and she scraped her hoof against the floor,
"No wonder you didn't come looking..." she whispered,
"Who are you?" Mirage asked, completely confused by the whole situation,
The world stopped moving, everypony in the room froze in place except for Mirage, Thalassa, Night Flash, Aero and the lavender pony,
"Gaia! get in here" Thalassa shouted,
"Gaia?" Mirage asked himself,
A forest green earth pony with a dirt brown mane walked in through the door looking around with her emerald eyes,
"Have you been screwing around with your power Clock Sta-" he stopped when he saw Mirage and practically tackled him,
"Mirage! your here!" he shouted in Mirage's face,
"Yeah... I'm here... What's wrong with that?" Mirage asked, backing away from the ecstatic pony,
"Nothing is wrong with that! How you been for the past four hundred and twenty one years?" Gaia asked,
"I've only been alive for twenty one years" Mirage said, confused,
Gaia raised an eyebrow and looked the pony up and down,
"He can't remember anything" The lavender one said,
Gaia looked towards the lavender pony then back to Mirage,
"Really?" He asked,
"I don't know any of you!" Mirage shouted,
"Yes you do" the lavender one said,
"Who are you then?" he growled,
"We're Elemental Ponies like you" She said, "I'm Clock Star"
"How old am I?" Mirage asked,
"Over two thousand years old" Clock said,
"What? that's impossible!" Mirage growled, "We die every one hundred years!"
"That's a lie" Clock said,
"Whoa, Whoa, Whoa, Hold up" Aero said, "are we all that old?"
"Yes" Thalassa said,
"Why aren't we all... you know, crusty?" Aero asked,
"We don't age after twenty one" Gaia said,
"Why didn't Celestia tell us this?" Night Flash asked,
"But she raised me since I was a foal!" Mirage argued,
"Is that what she told you? you probably went there after you got hit in the head"
"But... all of those memories" He said,
"They were real, they only happened a long time ago" Clock said,
Mirage thought hard, he had no foalhood memories with Celestia, only with his mother... and father.
"How are we supposed to believe you?" Aero asked, stepping forward,
"Let me show you" Clock said, closing her eyes,
Mirage's world spun around him, his vision began to blur and the room began to tear into pieces, then it all stopped, he blinked his eyes, the world had changed, the ponies around him looked sophisticated, and oddly different.
"This is Zephyr, in 1402, this is the day we all met" Clock said,
Mirage looked to his right and left, the other elements were around him,
6 ponies stood in the middle of what seemed to be a town square, talking to each other,
"So, we all are the same?" Past Night Flash asked, he seemed to be shorter, but still looked like how he did today,
"Apparently" Past Aero said, he looked the same as well,
Mirage eyed the six from the position he stood in, he was on top of a building with the other five, they all watched in amazement as they saw themselves walk and talk before them,
"I'm Mirage" Past Mirage said, holding his hoof out to Past Clock Star,
"Clock Star" Past Clock Star said,
The others introduced themselves as well, telling what they enjoyed to do, what their specific power was, along with some regular things.
"Let's go forward a bit" Normal Clock Star said,
The world again seemed to rip apart, only to be pieced back together in a different setting,
"Zephyr, 1425" Clock said, looking down on the new scenery,
The ponies stood their ground against an army of changelings, who disguised themselves as their enemies,
After a few minutes everypony stopped fighting, the changelings were all defeated and everypony was wounded,
Mirage began to remember things, he remembered who these three were, he remembered the changeling battle, and the day they all met.
"Why are you showing us this?" Aero asked,
"Because, You three deserve to know" Clock said,
"A bit further..." Thalassa said, "Show Mirage"
"Show me what?" Mirage asked,
The world skipped forward, Mirage saw himself pacing back and forth, carrying some kind of box in his hooves,
Clock Star walked into the room, in an elegant red dress, Mirage jumped and put the box under his wing quickly,
"Do you like it?" Past Clock Star asked, twirling for Past Mirage,
Past Mirage and Normal Mirage spoke in unison,
"I Love it" they said,
Mirage looked over to the right, a tear was trailing down Clock Star's cheek,
He remembered everything.
Mirage watched his past self bow down to Clock Star and pull the box out from under his wing,
"No..." Mirage said,
Past Mirage opened the box, revealing a large ring with a large Amethyst on it,
"Will"
No.
"You"
No.
"Marry"
No.
"Me?"
No!
"Yes!" Past Clock said, hugging Mirage,
Mirage stood in shock, he was married, he had been married all along
"Anyways" Normal Clock said, wiping a tear from her eye, "Zephyr, 1591"
The world moved again, it showed Mirage, Aero, Night Flash and Clock Star walking down the road, laughing and having a good time,
"Alright guys, I think me and Mirage are gonna head home" Clock said,
"Aww" Aero and Night Flash sighed,
Suddenly a Black Figure came out of the shadows and hit Aero over the head with something, hitting him again and again while he was on the ground,
"Oh come on" Normal Aero said, "I could have at least put up a fight"
Night Flash tackled the dark stallion off of Aero, trying to protect his friend,
The black pony took Night Flash into the air, breaking both of his wings from the amount of pressure from the sudden burst of wind, Night Flash yelped out in pain, the dark pony threw him to the ground like a dart, Night Flash landed directly on his head, knocking him out,
Mirage and Clock Star were the only two remaining, the dark pony walked over to them like a ghost, opening his eyes and staring into Mirage's.
Normal Mirage recognized the red snake-like eyes immediately, they were Black Mirage's
Past Mirage began to grip his head, like he had a headache, then he began to scream in pain, never looking away from the eyes, like he was locked in place.
Black Mirage just kept staring, never blinking
Past Mirage extended his wings, they began to glow and purple electricity began to charge around them, flickering off into nearby puddles,
"I didn't know I could do that" Normal Mirage said,
Past Clock Star had already stopped time, It never had an effect on Black Mirage, like he was a Element as well,
Past Mirage got an aggressive look in eyes, he began to flap his wings and grit his teeth, trying to get towards Black Mirage,
Suddenly Black Mirage turned into a black liquid and shot into Past Mirage's ear,
Past Mirage fell over and the world faded to black, like the memory ended,
"I took you all to the hospital after that" Clock Star said, "When I got Gaia and Thalassa there you were gone... you had broken out a few hours later"
The world returned to normal, everypony was moving again, Vinyl was still hugging Mirage and Thalassa, Gaia and Clock Star stood in the corner of the room,
"We can talk in thought too" Clock's voice said in Mirage's mind,
"If you can see through time, what comes of all of this?" Mirage asked her in thought,
"I can't see into the future" Clock said,
Mirage paused for a moment, "Never mind then" he said,
Clock Star was lying, and she knew what happened in the end, she didn't want to tell him though, it was horrible.
Blood pooled around her, the color in her eyes slowly started to disappear, the gash on her neck gurgled with blood as she began to stop breathing, all Mirage could do was watch, there was no hope anymore, everything was going downhill, she had saved his life, but he couldn't even begin to... This is what the world was coming to, blood and gore. No more love, no more happiness, no more laughter, no more smiling.
3 Hours Earlier...
Mirage tried to explain to Vinyl what happened before, who he was, Clock Star had tried to take Vinyl from him but he had shocked her numerous times, ever letting her take her away from him.
"You can't love her! I'm your wife!" Clock Shouted,
"I may have been your husband once, but not in this life" Mirage said coldly,
Clock Star looked astonished and hurt, her ears lowered and she ran out of the room,
"Dude, not cool" Gaia said, following her,
Thalassa looked around a bit, "I better follow her" she said, running after the two,
The others all sat there awkwardly for a moment then Twilight spoke up,
"What about all the memories of us as foals?" Vinyl asked,
That made Mirage think, how was Vinyl in his memories from over two thousand years ago,
A large explosion snapped him out of his mind, it had come from the front room,
"What was that? Aero asked,
Mirage jumped up and ran through the door into the next room, revealing a large hole where the door used to be, Thalassa and Gaia were holding each other in the corner, their eyes wide with fear.
"What happened?" Mirage asked,
"He- He t- took her" Thalassa stuttered, pointing at the damage,
"Aero, Night Flash, Rainbow Dash, Applejack and Twilight we have to find him" Mirage said, turning to the small army, like he was the captain,
"Luna, Fluttershy and I will stay here" Vinyl said,
Mirage nodded then turned to the two elemental mares, still in the corner,
"You two coming?" He asked,
"Thalassa, we have to help" Gaia said, shaking her friend,
"B- but"
"No buts lets go!" Gaia said, cutting her off and dragging her along,
Night Flash led the group through the city, which was perfectly intact,
"Why do you suppose he didn't destroy anything?" Aero asked,
"I bet he doesn't want to attract any attention" Night Flash answered,
Mirage stepped up next to Night Flash, keeping his voice low,
"He's just luring us in" he whispered,
"I know, but if we all fight together, it will be a piece of cake" Night Flash said,
"It wasn't such a piece of cake four hundred years ago" Mirage said doubtfully,
"We didn't have this many ponies four hundred years ago" Night Flash said,
"What if he got stronger?" Mirage asked,
Night Flash stopped, as did the rest of the group he glared at Mirage,
"Why'd we sto-" Mirage was cut off by a hoof hitting him across the face,
"Look at yourself! Your doubting yourself! We can win this just like we won against Cele-" Night Flash stopped,
"What ever happened to her anyways?" Mirage asked, rubbing his face,
"Nopony knows" Night Flash said, "We haven't seen her since we all left"
Everypony was silent for a moment, all standing there,
"Will we ever go back for her?" Aero asked,
"Who knows? Anything could happen now" Mirage said,
The 8 ponies heard something in the distance, they all turned in the general direction, Clock Star walked towards them slowly.
"Clock! how'd you escape?" Thalassa asked, running towards the mare,
Mirage saw something different about the mare though,
"Thalassa wait" He said,
"What's wrong?" She asked, standing next to Clock Star,
"Look around" Aero mumbled,
Thalassa did as told, nopony was moving except the 6, Clock had stopped them,
"Clock what are you-?" Thalassa was cut off by Clock Star grabbing her by the mane and throwing her into the wall of a nearby building, making her crumble to the ground,
"Hey!" Gaia shouted, sending a pillar of rock into Clock Star's jaw from below her,
The rock split where Clock's jaw was, never even phasing the pony,
"Well that's not fair" Gaia said,
A star smashed in between the ponies sending four of them flying to the side, Aero caught Gaia before she hit the ground and the three Pegasi stayed up, using their wings to stop from falling.
Thalassa got up and shot a large beam of water towards Clock Star,
Clock held out her hoof towards the incoming attack and it split into five pieces around her, never touching her,
This was the first time Mirage had seen any other powers than Aero's and Night Flash's, other than when Clock Star had stopped time.
Aero came next, engulfing his mane, tail and hooves in flames, charging towards the mare,
Clock Star rolled her eyes and disappeared, leaving nothing but smoke,
Aero stopped inside of the smoke looking around,
Suddenly Clock Star appeared above him, dropping all of her weight onto his back,
Mirage was over to Aero quickly, shooting a bolt towards Clock, which made her disappear,
Mirage helped Aero up and turned around, She was near Night Flash,
Night Flash ducked and slipped away from her strikes, sending quick beams of energy towards her, eventually hitting her in the right flank,
She yelped in pain and jumped onto him, a portal opened up below the two and they fell through it, only to come out of the sky moments later, dropping Night Flash onto his back,
"That was pretty awesome" Aero said,
"Shut up!" Mirage said, hitting him in the side, this wasn't fun and games anymore,
Clock Star was on top of a building glaring down at the five ponies, like she was waiting.
A pink mane appeared over the building, Pinkie Pie stood bouncing in place next to Clock Star,
A familiar black figure appeared as well, his mane blowing in his face from the wind,
"Who is that?" Aero asked,
Mirage watched the figure stare only at him, looking him directly in the eye,
"It's Me" He said,
"What?" Aero asked,
Black Mirage jumped from the building, landing in front of the five and making a crater in the ground, his body leaked with corrupted energy,
"Hello everypony" He said, his voice sounded like he was being drowned in oil.
"What's up!" Gaia shouted,
"I think the forest one spoke" the other voice in Black Mirage said, this one sounded much lower
"What?" Gaia asked,
"Indeed she did" the oily voice said,
"Enough of your games" Thalassa shouted,
"Games?" The two voices of Black Mirage said together, "I assure you these are not games" the low voice said,
Black Mirage lunged at Mirage, smacking him upside the head, disappearing, reappearing behind him and bucking him into the building that Pinkie and Clock stood on, all in under a second,
"Get back!" Aero shouted, moving back with the group,
"What happened?" Rainbow Dash asked,
Aero looked back, the others were getting up,
"Clock froze you guys" Aero said, looking back for Mirage, who was still recovering,
"Why'd she do that?" Applejack asked,
"I don't know, something's wrong" Aero said,
Black Mirage walked toward Mirage with quick pace, grabbing him by the mane and throwing him back, sending him rolling in the dirt,
Ponies around town had started to notice, some were panicking and others were watching from a distance,
"We haven't had anything like this since the changeling attack!" one exclaimed,
"Who are they?" another asked,
Others continued to talk while Mirage struggled to get to his hooves,
Black Mirage was already towering above Mirage again, picking him up and slamming him repeatedly into the ground,
"We have to help!" Night Flash exclaimed, stepping forward,
Thalassa held her hoof out, "We can't get anywhere near the two, we can only watch" she said,
"Well too bad!" He said flying towards the two,
Black Mirage stopped fighting Mirage and held a hoof in Night Flash's direction, blasting him back with a burst of air that was powerful enough to blow down a building,
A large bubble went around the two Pegasi, Black Mirage smiled and walked back towards Mirage,
Aero went up to the bubble and tapped it, sending an electrical shock through his body,
"Who did this?" He asked,
"Mirage" Gaia said,
"Which one?"
"The real one"
"Why would he do that?" Twilight asked,
"Because he know's what he's doing" Gaia said,
Mirage got to his feet, facing the black pony, his red eyes felt like they stared into his soul,
"We both know how this is going to end" Black Mirage said, in a new voice, almost identical to Mirage's,
"Yes, we do" Mirage said,
"Goodbye" The oily voice said,
Mirage swung his hoof, Black Mirage blocked and sent an explosive uppercut into Mirage's jaw,
Black Mirage swung and got Mirage in the shoulder,
Mirage swung and got Black Mirage in the knee,
A blast of electricity struck Black Mirage, followed by a charged hoof to the face,
blood started to drip from Mirage's muzzle, staining the brown dirt with crimson liquid,
Black Mirage looked just fine, he had a bruise forming on his eye but other than that he looked fine.
Aero tried to burn the electrical barrier, the barrier seemed to light up and Mirage started to glow,
Aero stopped and threw a rock at the barrier, it instantly evaporated and Mirage glowed again,
Aero looked at Mirage then at the barrier, every time something hit it the blast energy would be absorbed into Mirage's body
"Everypony throw things at the barrier!" Aero shouted,
"Why?" Night Flash asked,
"Just do it!" Aero demanded,
All of the ponies began to throw nearby things at the barrier, pots, vases, rocks, dirt, a cat, anything they could get their hooves on.
Mirage began to discharge and send bolts in every direction, striking Black Mirage every so often,
Thalassa and Gaia began to panic, the other ponies might have not remembered what would happen if Mirage was overcharged,
"Stop!" Clock Star shouted, knowing what came next,
"Never!" Aero shouted,
Mirage began to trip and stumble over himself, feeling the energy flow through his veins, his eyes began to light up, the purple on his body seemed to glow and his body began to spasm,
Black Mirage tried to hit him but was blown back into the force field and dropped to the ground,
Mirage began to float up, his body curled into a ball, his muscles tensed and he continued to absorb more energy,
Rainbow Dash saw what he was doing, she remembered the day he met him, his body did something like this, but was less vicious,
"Incoming!!!" Aero and Night Flash screamed, dropping a small house on the field,
The force field seemed to be absorbed into Mirage in a split second, Mirage dropped to the ground and Black Mirage began to laugh,
"You fools! you killed him yourselves!" He shouted,
"Black! get back!" Clock screamed,
A low hum began to sound from Mirage's body,
"What's wrong? he's dead!" Black Mirage laughed,
Gaia had already dug a large hole in the ground and rushed the others inside, covering the entrance with a thick layer of rock,
Mirage's body began to ring loudly,
"What are we doing in here?" Aero asked, igniting his tail for light,
"Hit the dirt" Gaia said, pushing the others down,
Mirage's body began to scream loudly,
"What the?" Black Mirage said, looking at Mirage, who was only a few hooves away,
Black Mirage stood quickly, brushing off the dirt from his mane. Mirage had leveled a good portion of the town on top of him, Clock Star and Pinkie Pie all at once. Saying he didn't see it coming was an understatement, that was the last thing he expected that little pony to do.
Black snapped his head to the right, he thought he had heard a sound...
Clank!
Now he was sure he heard the sound, it was coming from the spot he was facing. A small piece of metal debris moved and Clock Star and Pinkie emerged, having a coughing fit.
"Sweet *cough* Celestia!" Pinkie cried, "That was amazing!"
Clock Star looked at Pinkie with a look of shock and confusion,
"Yeah, it would have been even more amazing if we would have been crushed!" She snapped,
"What games do we play next?" Pinkie asked, bouncing up and down.
Clock Star looked around and narrowed her eyes,
"We find them... and kill them" She said, unsheathing a large silver dagger from her right flank.
Pinkie stopped bouncing and looked at Clock Star,
"What about the rest of the elements of harmony?" She asked,
"Them too" Black said, he wanted nothing to do with any more elements than he had signed up for so long ago, but they needed to go.
"But-"
"No buts" Clock interrupted, "Lets get moving, spread out"
The three split up, Pinkie went on the outside of the blast radius, Clock in the middle and Black in the center of the blast, where Mirage still lay.
"You know what all of this comes down too" He said,
Two black figures stood facing each other in a pitch black void, stars barely illuminated it enough to see the outline of the two. A pair of purple eyes belonged to the smaller one, red for the larger.
"I will not hesitate" Mirage said,
The figure smiled, "I won't either"
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"Tell you what?"
"That I had lived for so long"
The figure began to laugh,
Mirage narrowed his eyes, even the vampony eyes couldn't adjust to this kind of darkness, it wasn't natural. Almost like artificial darkness, or something.
"I didn't tell you because I wanted you to feel your pain when your loved ones died," He said, "One. By. One."
"Why did you treat me how you did?" Mirage asked,
The red eyes took a moment to answer, "Because I knew that I had to harden that shell of yours, make you unstoppable."
"And what? Am I just some kind of failure to you?" Mirage asked,
"In a sense, yes." He said, "Love wasn't supposed to break through that shell"
"But it did! I showed you that you can not make me into some kind of machine!" ?Mirage shouted,
"When Vinyl came along, your mother was so happy, that you finally managed to have a friend that you actually cared for" He said, "Her mind was so fascinating, the thought of finding another immortal was odd. She had some kind of mind reset every twenty one years, but she never forgot about you, or that ghastly music of hers."
Vinyl? Immortal? Mirage thought,
"What about all of the memories with Celestia as a foal?"
"Implanted, artificial, fake"
"By?"
"Me."
"You're not... alive" Mirage hesitated with his words.
"Oh, but I am. I've been with you since you lost your memory... well... even a few moments before"
The figure ended his sentence with a smile invisible to Mirage, who was finally putting all of the pieces together.
"It was you..."
The figure stayed silent.
"All along, it was always you"
A smile grew across Mirage's face,
The smile faded on his fathers.
"You better hope I don't wake up 'Black Mirage', and If I do" Mirage paused in mid sentence, "Run." Mirage thought it was only polite to use his father's real name.
Mirage immediately awoke to find his father standing over him, no longer in the form of Black Mirage, just his father.
Mirage's muscles all reacted at once, pushing him off of the ground and launching himself into the air. With his father under him, he slammed into the ground with incredible force, knocking the wind out of himself even.
"Found one!" Clock Star shouted with Gaia at her hooves,
Mirage looked to the left, meeting Clock Star's eyes and propelling himself towards her.
Aero got there faster though, tackling Clock Star off of Gaia and slamming her into a nearby uprooted tree.
"They're all coming out!" Black Mirage yelled,
He was right, the whole gang was charging towards the three at full speed with looks of determination in their eyes.
"We shall win thou battle!" A royal voice shouted, Luna and Vinyl moved at incredible speed from the other side,
"Don't fuck with the elements!" Rainbow Dash shouted,
Black raised a hoof and brought a chunk of rock towards Rainbow Dash, who dodged it by mere inches,
Everypony there stopped with a gasp, had he really just done that?
A blast of water connected with Aero's body, smacking him off of Clock Star,
"Thalassa!" Aero shouted,
"That wasn't me!" She shouted back,
Everypony looked in horror at Black Mirage,
"Surprise?" He said,
Fire ignited around him and he smiled proudly,
"How did he-"
He split into three,
"Wait a minute, only I can-"
Black disappeared then appeared in front of everypony in a split second, socking them across the face and returning.
"No way!"
Finally, a thunderstorm gathered in the sky and lightning struck down and split into two, hitting Mirage and his father.
"Is Thou royally screwed?" Luna asked,
"Pretty much" Clock Star said with a smile.
Galaxy's copies copied themselves, then the copies' copies copied themselves, and so on until all of the ponies were surrounded,
"I will no longer be needing your assistance, Clock Star" Galaxy said with a laugh, "You either, Pinkie Pie"
The two betrayed ponies looked at each other in disbelief, both flabbergasted at the powerful pony that stood before them.
"It's like the changelings all over again!" Twilight exclaimed,
"The copies are rather weak when you multiply so many" Night Flash said,
"Plus one for us?" Rainbow asked, backing up so she was in a circular rump-to-rump position with the rest of the group, including Pinkie and Clock, who had already put themselves back into the gang.
"Not quite, I mean their initial life force, not their strength" Night Flash answered,
"Great."
The copies inched closer and closer to the group, making them scoot back more into a contained huddle.
"Run or fight?" Thalassa asked,
Everypony remained quiet,
"Run or fight?!" Thalassa shouted,
"Fight!" Gaia shouted as she dove at the nearest copy, evaporating it with one quick swipe into a lifeless dust.
The other ponies followed in her hoofsteps, using their powers or their hooves in combat.
Vinyl was fighting against six at a time, biting at them and swinging her hoof with monstrous force, the whole werewolf ordeal had left her with enhanced abilities, like speed, strength, agility and large fangs like Mirage's, but more hook shaped and thicker.
She grabbed one by the mane and slammed its head into another's, evaporating both of them on impact. Suddenly, an intense pain seared through her thigh, one had bit at her with sharp teeth, causing her blood to drip from the wound.
The mare bucked her back hooves and launched the copy away.
Gaia and Aero were fighting together, Gaia would hold one of them and Aero would pound on them.
"Just a couple more!" Night Flash yelled, letting his copies fight Mirage's father's.
A magical aura surrounded the elements of harmony, raising them above the battlefield and locking them in a magically floating cage.
"Hey!" Rainbow Dash yelled, "Let us out!"
"Not so fast, this isn't your fight." Black said,
Everypony floated up and was locked into the cage.
The copies stopped and looked up, licking their lips like rabid animals.
"Now, I'll let you down one by one." Black said with a menacing grin. "Have fun."
Gaia dropped out of the bottom of the cage without warning, smashing into the ground and being immediately attacked by the copies.
The earth rose up around her, locking her in a cage of rock to stay away from the copies.
"That won't keep you for long." Black said,
The copies began to smash their bodies into the side of the cage, smashing it piece by piece.
"Stop!" Aero yelled, "Let me do it!"
"You'll get your turn."
The copies broke through, Gaia barely had time to hit one with a rock before another tackled her, swinging wildly at her head and body. The others joined in too, fighting each other to hit the helpless mare.
"STOP!!!" Aero screamed, sniffling, "Can't you see she's had enough?!"
Actually, Black couldn't see her at all, she was completely encased by his copies.
Aero's mane caught on fire and he rammed himself into the side of the cage, which sent an electrical current through his body.
"Alright boys, let her go." Black said.
The copies took a few seconds to get off of her, when they retreated back to their master they would kick at the beaten mare when she tried to stand.
Aero watched in agony as the mare was floated up and locked into a different cage. Her front legs were twisted awkwardly above her head, her sides and chest were already covered with bloody bruises, both of her eyes were black, the actual ball of her left eye had turned red and her nose refused to stop bleeding. Her mane was ruffled and torn, same with her tail, her body seemed to shake every few seconds too.
"Come on asshole!" Aero said, wiping the tears away and glaring at Mirage's father with scorching eyes. "Let me at your little copies!"
Night Flash fell.
He responded to the initial fall better than Gaia, using his wings to catch his fall. Night Flash lasted for two minutes before he too was dragged up into the cage with Gaia, who still refused to move.
Mirage's father tapped his chin as he eyed the chart in his hooves, which showed how long each of the ponies had lasted.
Gaia - 31 seconds.
Night Flash - 2 minutes, 14 seconds.
Thalassa - 48 seconds.
Clock Star - 1 minute, 36 seconds.
Pinkie Pie - 54 seconds.
Twilight Sparkle - 2 minutes, 9 seconds.
Rainbow Dash - 1 minute, 23 seconds.
Applejack - 1 minute, 12 seconds.
Princess Luna - 3 minutes, 19 seconds.
Black Mirage looked to his copies, who still looked like they were ready for war, then, he looked up to see three frightened ponies in a box, one pacing back and forth with anger. Many tears had dropped from that cage, mostly from Pinkie Pie, who was sad to see what had happened to her friends.
Aero dropped.
He smashed into the ground with extreme force that he had created, launching a few of the copies away.
Aero lashed out immediately, swinging with perfect accuracy and intense strength, burning some of them to ashes and rocketing others away.
Aero had gone on for five minutes without stopping to catch his breath before all of the copies disappeared at once an Black Mirage stepped onto the battlefield in front of an enraged Aero.
"I see that you can defeat what I have thrown at you, Aero." He said, smiling at the burning stallion then looking up at the cage where he deposited the beaten ponies. "Is that your marefriend up there? The green one?"
"Yeah." Aero said.
"That's a shame, she was quite pretty before I killed her." Black said with a grin.
"She's not-"
"Yes she is Aero, I have her life dangling by a thread." Black interrupted.
"You're lying." Aero said, feeling his body get hotter.
"Am I?" Black asked, "I can feel her Spectra right now, its at an all time minimum."
"Shut up!" Aero said, swinging a hoof.
The hoof stopped before it could reach its target, Black Mirage had it in his own.
"Face it, she's gone." He said,
Aero shot back like a rocket, smashing into a crumpled building and going right out the other side of it.
Black flew over to Aero, picking him up and smashing him into the ground, crushing the ground beneath him.
Black's hoof lit up with electrical energy as it pumped into Aero, shocking him without mercy.
Mirage could smell burning meat, it resembled the smell of a Mosquito when it flew into a bug zapper. But it was coming from Aero.
Black stopped after about a minute, leaving Aero behind and returning back to his post. When he got back e took out a stopwatch and clicked the top of it, then recorded Aero's data on the chart.
Aero - 7 minutes, 21 seconds.
Black smiled when he saw Mirage drop, it was time to finish this.
"Dad... why did you do it?" Mirage asked, watching his fallen friend be thrown into a cage roughly.
"Because you six don't belong in this world, you're a fucking disease." He said,
"Is that what you think?" Mirage asked, "You'd do this to your son?"
"Yes, I will." Black said,
Mirage looked at his hooves, "If that's what it takes for you to be happy, then so be it." he said,
"Get over here." his father said,
Mirage obeyed, walking up to his father with his head down.
"Good, now look at me." He said,
Mirage looked up at his father, right into his blood red eyes, then he closed his eyes.
"Now die."
Without warning, a silver knife was jammed into Mirage's chest, startling him.
Mirage looked down, this would be it. This was how his father would win.
He looked up with a bloody smile, his mother stood next to his father, she wore a warm smile, like she always had.
Another knife entered Mirage, this time in his back.
"Mirage!!!" Vinyl screamed,
Mirage saw his father's hoof raise, everything seemed to move in slow motion.
Rain Whisper watched as Mirage collapsed, his mouth stayed open, like he had something else to say, and his eyes stayed closed.
"Daddy?" She asked
"Don't worry Rain, the monsters are gone now." Black said,
Rain Whisper watched as a purple orb float out of Mirage's chest, staying a few hooves above him.
A orange orb rushed past her, meeting four others in the middle of the battlefield, where the others had fought.
A green one, a black, pink and blue seemed to wait for the orange and purple.
It was the energy that powered them all, they're very own Spectra. Gaia's, Night Flash's, Clock Star's, Thalassa's, Aero's and Mirage's.
"Now Its all mine." Black said to nopony in particular.
"Rain! Run!" Vinyl shouted,
Rain Whisper stood where she was, a single tear ran down her cheek.
Black Mirage approached the six orbs, reaching up into the air towards them, as if to grab them. Just before he touched one they darted away, slamming into Rain Whisper and entering her body.
The little foal's eyed lit up in a bright golden color, she began to walk towards Black Mirage, growing in size every few steps.
"You take away my home," Rain said, her voice was now squeaky like a filly's should sound.
Black Mirage backed away from the growing foal in fear.
You take away the ponies who live here." She said, her voice was now like a teenager's.
Black was stopped short by a building that he was backed up into.
"And you take away my father." Rain said, her voice now resembled a full grown mare.
The earth seemed to shake beneath the now full grown mare, huge chunks of rock lit on fire as they were lifted from the ground, hundreds of frozen ice blocks floated above her head and at her side, her body copied itself at least a hundred times, all of them seemed to be conducting light blue electricity into each other and into her.
All of the copies faded at once and appeared in front of him, taking millisecond turns smashing him across the face with deadly power, his body twitched from the electrical power surging through him, the flaming rocks hit him directly all at once, imploding on impact and showering the landscape with millions of tiny pebbles, the ice bombarded his position immediately after, shattering on impact and carving out a giant crater where he once stood.
Finally, a bright light surrounded Rain Whisper, the sun dimmed and the light grew brighter, Vinyl had to turn away to avoid being blinded, after only a few seconds the light began to hum loudly, small beams of light were cast from the giant sphere, burning long streaks on the ground and anything it touched. The sound stopped altogether and was replaced by a deafening roar, a gargantuan beam shot down onto the position where Mirage's father was, disintegrating the earth when it made contact.
Then everything stopped, Rain Whisper's body shrank back down and six orbs left her body, returning to their owners.
We returned to Equestria shortly after Rain Whisper killed Black Mirage and the Elemental ponies got up, Luna took the throne again, apparently Celestia was killed by somepony before we left, that was a relief for sure. We had thought we would have to stay in hiding.
Gaia and Aero's wedding is today, I'm looking at the invitation right now. Mirage has dressing Rain Whisper for twenty minutes, he told me he could do faster than I ever had, let me tell you, she does not like to wear dresses.
Night Flash rules alongside Luna, I think those two have something going on... Whatever, it's probably nothing.
Thalassa teaches swim lessons and works at the aquarium, did you know she can stay underwater for under an hour?
Clock Star helps some doctor, I don't know really, she never talks much about him. She said something about them liking the same kind of things.
Mirage helps me when I'm on tour, like right now we skipped a show to go see Gaia and Aero, we wouldn't miss that for the world.
Gaia is a karate teacher, she insists to put Rain Whisper in her classes the seconds she turns three, so I have a bit of time to decide.
Aero is rebuilding the Wonderbolts, so far, he has about fourteen or fifteen, Rainbow Dash included.
The elements of harmony remained the elements of harmony, they all stayed in 'New Ponyville' as we call it, I still think Ponyville sounds more homely though.
"Honey! you were right!" Mirage called from the other room,
